Monday, 20 October 2014

GOD IS A GAMER :: BOOK REVIEW

GOD IS A GAMER :: BOOK REVIEWBlame it on my ignorance, but I hardly knew the author of this book. And by the time I finished this particular piece, I was kicking myself for the same!! Not only has Mr. Ravi Subramanian carved out a perfect plot but he has also made the novel fair bit edgy and absolutely gripping. The story starts with a murder, follows it up with a phishing scam, another murder, then showcases an ATM heist (cyber crime) and ultimately reveals the reason why Mr. Subramanian gave the tagline- “Is revenge a crime?”

The storyline is crisp and precise. All the connections are explained in a concise way and all the questions are answered at the perfect time. The prologue introduces the concept of bitcoins-the modern money and senator Gillian Tan. Ironically, the main story starts with the murder of the senator and flows into a myriad of cyber-crimes committed at seemingly unconnected places. The story has different angles at different junctions.While the murder of Senator Gillian Tan brings in the FBI in the foray, the case of the supposed suicide of the CEO of a prominent international bank is handed over to the CBI in India when the finance minister of India gets involved in it. Then there is Mr. Aditya Rao, the legend in the Indian banking industry and the owner of the Indian gaming company- Indiscape. Mr. Aditya also owns the most respected BPO in India- eTOIS. Alongside him is Sundeep, his protégé, helping him run the company and another former colleague Swami, who is the head of retail banking at New York International Bank, the same bank whose CEO, Malvika, died. The story also introduces kids of Malvika and Aditya bumping into each other, first at Rio and then at Goa. All these, with a few more supporting characters, find their lives turned topsy turvy under different circumstances which are ultimately strewn wonderfully into having one common origin at the epilogue of the book.

Although I would agree on usage of fair bit of technical jargon of the finance world, but the author has tried his best to give lucid explanations of the financial terms. The best part of the book is undoubtedly the epilogue. After you read the final chapter, you find yourself accepting the predicament of the situation somewhat unsatisfactorily. You yearn for more answers and a better ending. That is what exactly the epilogue provides. “Is revenge a crime?”- The author completely justifies this tagline and even presents an opinion, albeit hidden in the plot. The epilogue will make you sit upright, bring on an expression on your face which would depict that you are slowly but enjoyably digesting every bit of the maverick plot and make you mutter a gamut of expletives in awe.

If at all one has to find the chinks in the armour then it would be a not-so-capturing blurb and a relatively easy narration. Even though the easy narration helps at times, but more often than not you wish to be more challenged in terms of capturing language.Crisp storyline, well-carved characters, an impeccable plot and a method in all the mess are the defining characteristics of this book. Being just over 300 pages, it is a very good weekend read.